By: Cece Han
Edited by: Alicia Corner
In recent years, voter distrust has been on the rise in both Canada and the United States. This can be a result of both public misinformation and the unstable era of Trumpian politics. Either way, these reasons threaten the very foundation of democracy. The 2025 Canadian federal election was subjected to many conspiracies surrounding election manipulation, and the rise of misinformation has also resulted in many Americans losing faith in their electoral system. Politicians and political parties are losing the trust of their voters at rapidly declining rates, with Canadian citizens’ trust in the government dropping from 58% to 43%, and almost 60% of Americans saying they are unsatisfied with the current state of American democracy. The continuous rise of voter distrust leads to lower voter turnout rates, and this will severely impact the perceived legitimacy of democracy, given that elected officials will no longer reflect the electorate that they serve.
Research suggests that during the 2025 Canadian federal election, misinformation was one of the leading reasons for the increase in voter distrust. There were unsubstantiated allegations that Elections Canada was working with the Liberal Party to rig the election. News outlets and Elections Canada were quick to denounce these allegations with explanations that votes were counted by independent scrutineers. It is also important to note that while 85% of the six thousand people surveyed by the Canadian Digital Media Research Network stated they had confidence in Canada’s electoral system, of those who had no confidence, 21% were Conservative, while only 6% were Liberal. This demonstrates how voter distrust is split along party lines. Research also shows that supporters of losing parties tend to accuse the electoral system of being illegitimate. This was seen in the 2020 US Presidential election, where many Republicans believed that voting machines helped the Democrats “steal” the election from what would have been Donald Trump’s second consecutive term as President.
In addition, misinformation is a prevalent contributing factor to the waning public trust in electoral systems in the United States, as well as coordinated disinformation campaigns, according to the experts at USC. Misinformation is false information that is shared without harmful intent, while disinformation is information that is intentionally misleading. While misinformation and disinformation have long existed in American politics, this new age of AI allows misinformation and disinformation to spread at a much faster pace and on a much larger scale. According to Emilio Ferrara, the principal scientist at USC’s 2024 Election Integrity Initiative, the old saying of “I’ll believe it when I see it” no longer applies in the age of artificial intelligence, given that AI gives people the ability to generate or simulate almost anything imaginable. This forces voters to approach the media with an air of skepticism, and this contributes to the growing distrust in electoral systems. In an age where social media is the source of information for many voters, the spread of misinformation with the help of AI can have unimaginable consequences on democracy. Voters will have a difficult time deciding what is real and what is not, and this can deter many voters from participating in elections at all.
Another factor contributing to a declining trust in government is the way politics is practiced. The United States had one of the most dramatic declines in voter trust since Trump took office in 2016. This can be seen in Trump’s outspoken disdain towards voting by mail and his belief that this method of voting is prone to fraud and would result in a “rigged election,” despite the fact that voting by mail has long been viewed as a legitimate form of casting one’s ballot. Numerous studies also show that there is no evidence that mail-in ballots confer any form of partisan advantage. However, Trump’s public disapproval of this method of voting holds significant weight in public perception of voting by mail. This leads to increased skepticism among the public and mistrust of electoral systems. A prime example of the importance of perception of electoral systems by the public was the 2020 US Presidential election, where Trump lost to Biden. Many believed this was a result of election fraud and eventually led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, which was a mob attack of Republicans in support of Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election. This shows how sowing the seeds of mistrust through misinformation can have severe real-life effects.
How do political leaders and parties rebuild the trust that has been lost? The path to rebuilding trust between voters and politicians will be a long one, one that requires education. It is imperative that the public is educated on how the American election process works; this, in turn, will make them more knowledgeable and less susceptible to the spread of misinformation. Research proves that elections are well run in America, with 10,000 jurisdictions that accommodate 160 million registered voters. You can cast your ballots in town halls, school gymnasiums, etc., and this demonstrates how election polls take place on a community level. There is no grand election office that can be hacked to rig the election in favour of one party, which is a common misconception that many voters have. In 2024, 95% of registered voters in America voted on a system with a verifiable paper trail in order to prevent election fraud. There are many security measures in place, and according to the Pew Research Centre, the American election system is sound. This demonstrates how most of the distrust is affected heavily by unsubstantiated narratives, and how educating the public on how the election process works is the first step in rebuilding the trust of voters.
Image Citation: Eytan, T. (2020). Polarization has reached new heights in the past two decades, fueled in large part by a rapidly evolving media landscape and an increasingly divided legislature [Photograph]. The Oracle. https://www.usforacle.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/democracy-watch.jpg
References:
Caudell-Feagan, M. (2024, October 17). How to Restore Trust in Elections. Pew.org; The Pew Charitable Trusts. https://www.pew.org/en/trend/archive/fall-2024/how-to-restore-trust-in-elections
Duignan, B. (2024, November 22). January 6 U.S. Capitol Attack. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/January-6-U-S-Capitol-attack
Raffio, N. (2024, October 28). Trust in voting: How misinformation threatens democracy. USC Today. https://today.usc.edu/trust-in-voting-how-misinformation-threatens-democracy/
Tenove, C. (2025, April 24). Why Voter Distrust is Brewing – Macleans.ca. Macleans.ca. https://macleans.ca/politics/is-the-election-being-stolen/
Unger, V. (2023, January 7). Are Our Political Parties At War With Us? The Toxic Relationship Between the Elected and the Electorate. Fair Vote Canada. https://www.fairvote.ca/07/01/2023/voters-losing-trust/
Valgarðsson, V. (2025, February 19). Trust in politics is in long-term decline around the world – new research. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/trust-in-politics-is-in-long-term-decline-around-the-world-new-research-250078
Wu, C., & Dawson, A. (2024). The Trump Effect? Right-Wing Populism and Distrust in Voting by Mail in Canada. Public Opinion Quarterly, 88(SI), 781–813. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfae020